In July of 1848, the first Women’s Rights Convention was held in the village of Seneca Falls, New York.  The convention was attended by 300 women and men and created the Declaration of Sentiments document.  This was the beginning of the movement for the equality of women in the United States of America.

Wesleyan Methodist Church in Seneca Falls, New York was the site of the first Women's Rights Convention in 1848. Nikon D700/28-300VR, f/18, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 42mm focal length, HDR Image.

A few years later, one of the original members of the convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was introduced to Susan B. Anthony by their mutual friend, Amelia Jenks Bloomer, in the same Seneca Falls village. Together, Anthony and Stanton pushed for the right of women to vote.

A statue in Seneca Falls, New York depicting the meeting between Susan B. Anthony (left) and Elizabeth Cady Stanton (right) by a mutual friend, Amelia Jenks Bloomer (center) in 1852. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/250s, f/9, ISO 200, EV +0.3, 28mm focal length.

Single and having no children, Anthony had the time and energy to do the speaking and traveling Stanton was unable to do. Their skills complemented each other.  Stanton, the better orator and writer, scripted many of Anthony’s speeches, while Anthony was the movement’s organizer and tactician.

Neither Susan B. Anthony nor Elizabeth Cady Stanton lived to see the day when women where granted the right to vote when the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed in 1920.  They will be forever remembered as the women who advocated equal rights for women at a time when such thinking was frowned upon by society.

Signs found at the Women's Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls, New York.

The Women’s Rights National Historical Park which is administered by the U.S. National Park service cares for the convention property, the two story visitor center and displays which help to teach the history of the 19th century women’s movement many people of today have a hard time understanding.  The displays are interactive and worth an hour or two of anyone’s time if you ever find yourself somewhere between Rochester and Syracuse, New York.